All posts tagged robot

Toshiba Corp. and the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning unveiled a new scorpion-shaped robot which will be sent inside the containment vessel at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in August.

The robot, which is approximately 54 centimeters long and 9 centimeters wide, weighs about 5 kilograms. It will be powered via a wire and carry two cameras, LED lights, a radiation counter and a thermometer. Read More »

Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Monday released new video footage taken by a crawler robot inside the containment vessel of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s No.1 reactor. The footage showed a different robot inside the vessel which the utility decided to abandon last week after it got stuck while gathering data. Read More »

Toshiba Corp.’s humanoid robot Aiko Chihira kicked off its first day at work at a Tokyo department store Monday. Dressed in a stylish kimono, the robot offered help to customers at an information desk at Mitsukoshi department store. Read More »

Toshiba Corp. said its humanoid robot will debut at the information desk of an upscale department store in Tokyo next week and provide audio guidance to customers.

The female-looking robot, named Aiko Chihira, will only speak Japanese. Unlike humanoid robots that have already started careers in customer service, including at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Chihira can’t make conversation or respond to spoken questions. Read More »

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it would abandon a robot inside one of the nuclear containment vessels at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it lost control of the crawler.

The robot was sent inside the containment vessel at the No. 1 reactor to obtain data on radiation levels and take images of the interior. It was the first robot to venture inside one of the containment vessels since the 2011 nuclear accident. Read More »

A small Japanese robot called Kirobo has picked up two world records from its 18-month stay on the International Space Station.

The Guinness Book of World Records on Friday recognized Kirobo as the first companion robot in space, and for having a conversation with a human being at the highest altitude ever, at 414.2 kilometers above sea level. Read More »

Japan’s Waseda University and Kikuchiseisakusho Co. say they have created a robot that can maneuver through rubble for use in disaster-hit areas.

The 1.7-meter tall “Octopus” has four arms, four caterpillar tracks and weighs 700 kilograms. It is designed for deployment in rescue missions and for removing rubble in areas including those contaminated with high levels of radiation. Read More »

About Japan Real Time

Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com